“The Lookout”

Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Jeff Daniels
Matthew Goode
Bruce McGill
Isla Fisher
Carla Gugino
Alberta Watson
Alex Borstein
Laura Vandervoort

R           99min           2007

Acclaimed screenwriter Scott Frank (Minority Report) makes a mind-blowing directorial debut in, a gritty, high-tenison thriller starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt(TV’s Third Rock From the Sun, Brick), Jeff Daniels(The Squid and the Whale) and Isla Fisher(Wedding Crashers). Chris “Slapshot” Pratt (Gordon-Levitt), whose once-bright future has been dimmed by a head injury, is a night janitor at a bank. Lonely and frustrated, Chris falls prey to a con man’s seductive promise of romance and a better life, and agrees to help rob the bank where he works. Filled with heart-pounding action, edge-of-your-seat suspense and a twist you’ll never see coming. “The Lookout” will grip you and never let go… It’s “immensely satisfying. A blast of suspense.” – from the back cover.

“The Lookout” is an intelligent thriller. It has a talented cast. Its characters are flawed and seem real. It’s an indie film that should not be missed.

This is a thriller that does play down to the audience. Many of the characters are not explained, but a fleshed out by the performance of the actors. Many things are left opaque and as a viewer you are left to you own devises.

“The Lookout” is lead by the “Indie King” Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He has a supporting cast of Jeff Daniel, Matthew Goode, and Isla Fisher. Daniels plays Chris’s a blind roommate that complements each other. Matthew Goode is sort of a puppet master manipulating Chris for his own means. Fisher plays a girl that falls for Chris.

You could meet these characters anywhere in the USA. They have flaws and are complex. Nothing in this film is black and white. It plays respect to people living with Chris’s condition. Showing that his life is complicated and finding his happiness is in the eye of the beholder.

The DVD is slim on features. There is a making of featurette and a feature highlight the character Chris Pratt. There is only an audio commentary with the writer/director Scott Frank and Director of Photography Alar Kivilo. There are movie previews for “Being Jane”, “Eagle vs. Shark”, “The Invisible”, “Renaissance”, “Neverwas”, “The Hoax” and “Our Very Own”.

I give it a 5/5 Gs.